Pacur Names John Carlson Chief Executive Officer

Pacur, LLC, a market leading supplier of specialty plastic packaging materials for the medical device industry, today announced a planned transition in the leadership of the company. John Carlson, a 30-year veteran of the healthcare and medical device industry, will take over the role of CEO effective today, succeeding Barry Johnson, who is retiring after leading the company for the past decade. Pacur is a portfolio company of middle market private equity firm Gryphon Investors.

Mr. Carlson is an accomplished executive with a track record of driving innovation and growing businesses in the healthcare and medical device industry. Prior to joining Pacur, he served as president of Flex Health Solutions, a $2.5B business focused on design, engineering services and contract manufacturing for the medical technology market. Before that, he held a variety of technology and innovation roles at Johnson & Johnson, both at the parent company and at its Ethicon Endo-Surgery division. He holds a B.S. in BioEngineering and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, both from the University of California, San Diego.

Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, Pacur has established itself as a first-class brand with a reputation for quality, excellent customer service, reliability, and strong financial performance. Mr. Johnson will continue to remain active in the business as a board member.

“It is difficult to step down from my day-to-day work as CEO of Pacur,” said Mr. Johnson. I have had the privilege to lead a great team of people who have grown Pacur into a world class supplier to the medical device industry. But the time is right for me to focus on my future. I’m very confident that John is the right leader to guide Pacur through our next phase of growth, and I look forward to working with him through the transition and as a partner on the board. I’m very bullish about our company.”

Craig Nikrant, chairman of the board for Pacur and Gryphon operating partner, said, “I am very pleased to partner with John as Pacur moves forward. His laser focus on customers, superior service, and quality, as well as his innovative mindset, gives me great confidence in his leadership and vision for the company.” Wes Lucas and Leigh Abramson, Partners and co-Heads of the Industrial Growth Group at Gryphon Investors, added, “We cannot thank Barry enough for his invaluable leadership and significant contributions that helped make Pacur the market leader it is today. All of us at Gryphon wish him the best in his retirement and look forward to his continued involvement on the board.”

Mr. Carlson said, “I couldn’t be more excited to join the Pacur team to help expand upon the great foundation they have built. I look forward to working with Barry on the transition as we augment Pacur’s already strong technology, introduce new advanced products, and broaden the company’s capacity to serve its customers.”

About Pacur

Founded in 1979 and based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Pacur (www.pacur.com) is the leading supplier of extruded PETG sheet used principally to provide rigid, high-performance packaging for medical devices.

About Gryphon Investors

Based in San Francisco, Gryphon Investors (www.gryphoninvestors.com) is a leading private equity firm focused on profitably growing and competitively enhancing middle-market companies in partnership with experienced management. The firm has managed over $5.0 billion of equity investments and capital since 1997. Gryphon targets making equity investments of $50 million to $300 million in portfolio companies with enterprise values ranging from approximately $100 million to $600 million. Gryphon prioritizes investment opportunities where it can form strong partnerships with owners and executives to build leading companies, utilizing Gryphon’s capital, specialized professional resources, and operational expertise.

Contacts

Caroline Luz

Lambert & Co.
203-656-2829
CLUZ@LAMBERT.COM

Jennifer Hurson

Lambert & Co.
845-507-0571
JHURSON@LAMBERT.COM